Milwaukee, Wis.–Since tax season is underway, the Better Business Bureau of Wisconsin reminds consumers about the importance of choosing a reliable tax preparer. According to the IRS, 80 percent of Americans will enlist the help of a tax preparer or tax software when filing their taxes. To avoid penalties and fees, the BBB encourages taxpayers to use caution when selecting tax preparation.

Tax preparation professionals offer a variety of services in addition to completing your returns. They are generally more familiar with tax saving strategies, can help you organize and plan for next year’s taxes, and help you determine if you are required to pay taxes each quarter. Make sure you choose a preparer who offers the services you need.

“Most tax professionals provide quality service,” says Ran Hoth, CEO/president of the Better Business Bureau of Wisconsin. “Still, we’ve seen cases where businesses have closed suddenly or stopped communication with their clients. It’s important to check out a company’s track record and feel comfortable with the tax preparer that you choose to do business with.”

If you are planning to work with a professional tax preparer, the BBB offers these tips:

Get references and do your research. Get referrals from friends and family on who they use and then check the company’s Business Review at bbb.org to see its BBB rating and BBB Accreditation status. Or, you can request a quote from a reputable BBB Accredited Business at bbb.org.

Look for credentials. It’s recommended to seek a tax pro who is an Enrolled Agent, Certified Public Accountant or a Tax Attorney. IRS Regulations require all paid tax return preparers to apply for a Preparer Tax Identification Number. Reputable preparers will request your records and receipts to determine your income and qualifications for expenses and deductions.

Get a firm estimate in writing. The cost of preparing your return will vary depending on the complexity and completeness of your information.

Don’t fall for the promise of big refunds. Be wary of any tax preparation service promising larger refunds than the competition, and avoid tax preparers who base their fee on a percentage of the refund.

Tax preparer accessibility. Many tax preparation services only set up shop for the months leading up to tax deadline. In case the IRS finds errors, or in case of an audit, you may need to be able to contact your tax preparer after the April due date. Make sure you have complete contact information and will be able to contact the tax preparer throughout the year.

Never sign a blank tax return. Review the entire return and ask questions before signing it. Make sure the preparer includes their Preparer Tax Identification Number (“PTIN”), required by law for all paid tax preparers. Also, the preparer must give you a copy of the return. Keep in mind that you are ultimately responsible for the accuracy of your return.

Avoid refund anticipation loans. Tax preparers often offer refund anticipation loans to allow you to immediately receive your tax refund; however, this is not an actual refund from the IRS but a short-term loan from the company typically with a high interest rate. To avoid refund anticipation loans, consider filing electronically and requesting your money be direct deposited.

Closures this week at Watertown Plank Road and south for utility work are percursor to full reconstruction planned to begin in March, DOT says.

by Jim Price, Greenfield Patch

If you think you’ve seen a lot of detours and closings already, get set. You’re about to get the first taste of the real deal – six years, or perhaps eight or nine, of the eye-popping Zoo Interchange Reconstruction Project.

In preparation for major reconstruction that will begin in March and continue through next summer, a stretch of Mayfair Road will go down to one lane in each direction for part of the coming week, with more lane closures to follow, a Wisconsin Department of Transportation official says.

Ryan Luck of the DOT, in an interview Friday morning with Patch’s partners at Fox 6 News, said that one lane each way had already been closed and that only one lane in each direction would be open from Monday through Wednesday in the area of Watertown Plank Road and to the south.

The closings are to relocate utilities in preparation for the bigger task of rebuilding Mayfair from just north of Watertown Plank south to Greenfield Avenue. That work begins in March and is expected to last through the summer.

For those who have already experienced the headaches of Mayfair Road reconstruction north of there – which is to say nearly everyone – it will be more of the same in a different place.

While last year’s lengthy lane closings and forests of orange barrels made life hectic to the north and south of Mayfair Mall, the busiest retail center in the state, this year’s work will affect other critical hubs.

Mayfair and Watertown Plank roads are, of course, primary conduits to the Milwaukee Regional Medical Center, the Milwaukee County Research Park and other county institutions just to the east, with loads of commuter, patient and vistor traffic.

Farther south, the busy intersection of Mayfair with Blue Mound Road will also become a focal point of frustration for commuters and commerce – as well as visitors to the Milwaukee County Zoo, for which the freeway confluence is named.

Luck also told Fox 6 that the Greenfield Avenue overpass, in West Allis, will be demolished by the end of this month, possibly by Jan. 21, and will be rebuilt and reopened by some time in July.

Luck conspicuously did not mention any work scheduled for Swan Boulevard at Hwy. 45 this year, as had been planned by the DOT.

Swan was to have been realigned so as to pass completely over 45 and then curve back to meet Watertown Plank Road across from the Research Park. (It currently is split, with its northbound lane east of 45 at grade level and its southbound lane passing over to the west side of the freeway.)

It is not certain, though, that funds for that effort will included in the DOT’s budget for this year. Transportation officials announced late last year that it was possible that budget shortfalls might stretch completion of the whole Zoo Interchange rebuild out two years or more longer than planned, from 2018 to 2020 or beyond.

Work on Swan Boulevard would also be dependant on Wauwatosa completing the new Discovery Parkway, north and south through the northeast quadrant of the County Grounds between Swan and Watertown Plank, as an alternative route.

Five volunteers from the Greater Grand Rapids chapter of the American Red Cross are deploying to Florida in preparation for Tropical Storm Isaac, which aimed toward the Dominican Republic and Haiti Friday and could make landfall on Florida and the central Gulf Coast next week, forecasters say.

Four people left this morning from Gerald R. Ford International Airport and another volunteer will deploy tomorrow.

Cheryl Bremer, regional CEO of the Greater Grand Rapids American Red cross, said volunteers are being pre-positioned to the Tampa area and will travel along the Gulf Coast depending on where the storm hits.

The five local volunteers — two women and three men — will assist with shelter, mental health and nursing services. They are deployed for two or three weeks, based on the severity of need, Bremer said.

Twenty-two Red Cross emergency vehicles are already in Florida and 28 are moving into the state. Seventy-eight vehicles have been placed on standby. The Grand Rapids rescue vehicle has not yet been called.

The Red Cross has prepared five truckloads of disaster supplies to send to Florida, and warehouses in Georgia and Mississippi will ship supplies if necessary.

The storm has not yet reached hurricane intensity and forecasters predict it to make landfall as a hurricane next week.

While they’re the place we go for healing, all hospitals have the potential to be a hotbed for contagious infections.

But there are precautionary measures patients can take, both to reduce the need for a hospital stay and to condition the body to ward off infection and minimize pain when surgery is necessary, says Letha Hadady, a nationally-recognized herbal expert and author of Naturally Pain Free, just published by Sourcebooks (www.AsianHealthSecrets.com). Letha has been documenting in real time her recent hip replacement, preparation and recovery, in a video blog on her global website.

“We are fast approaching a time when antibiotics will be outdated because infectious bacteria – Superbugs – have become resistant,” she says. “We have to protect ourselves with the gifts of nature that germs cannot adapt to – foods, minerals, herbal remedies and other natural products that build our defenses.”

There are 600,000 knee-replacement and 300,000 hip-replacement surgeries performed each year in the United States, a number that has doubled in the past 10 years and continues to grow, Hadady says. As a health expert cited by NBC News, AP Radio, Newsday, the Daily News, the San Francisco Chronicle and Barbara Walters, she says she is concerned about the risks, pain and fear as many people face both major and minor surgeries.

“These surgeries are only going to become more frequent as the baby boomer generation ages. People 50 and older with osteoarthritis are most likely to need hip- and knee-placements,” she says. “But plenty of younger people are affected, too. Runners, dancers, tennis players, soldiers – even high school students who suffer sports injuries. It could be you on the operating table!”

Hadady offers these tips to naturally condition the body before surgery:

• Herbal strength: A few weeks in advance of her operation, Hadady ramped up her intake of herbal supplements. A key herb was Yunnan Paiyao, a traditional medicine used in Chinese hospitals and by their soldiers to prevent excessive bleeding. Other herbs can be taken to help build up resistance to bacteria.

• A calm and focused mind: Stress increases inflammation and is a burden on internal organs. A calm, centered mind — attained through techniques such as meditation, deep breathing, and mineral baths – can help the body weather the trauma of surgery, she says.

• Knowledge is power: While researching “Naturally Pain Free,” Letha tried alternative treatments for arthritis ranging from traditional Asian remedies to cutting-edge stem cell injections. Before her operation, Hadady asked questions and researched her hospital, doctors, the procedure, and insurance coverage. This allowed her to better prepare for the operation and gave her peace of mind.

• Follow hospital recommendations: In addition to alternative therapies, it’s important to heed the advice of one’s doctors, before and after a procedure, she says. With her supplements, Hadady restricted her vitamin C intake, which thins blood, and she received an antibiotic ointment to ward off MRSA — an antibiotic-resistant superbug that can cause life-threatening infections.

• Diet and exercise: “This may seem obvious, but it’s a message we cannot emphasis enough for overall health,” she says. One reason why replacement procedures are so prominent is due to the “sitting lifestyle” so many now have. Muscle atrophy from too much sitting can be a cause for joint-replacement, she says. “Sitting is the new smoking!”

Milwaukee, WIBe-You-tiful Camp for Girls ages 6-16 begins July 31- August 3rd and August 7-10. This 2-week day camp is a fun interactive approach to learning useful skills for school and social life, employment preparation and conflict resolution. Early bird registration is $150 begins now through July 14; $199 after July 15, 2012.

Do you want your young person to be respectful to others and teachers; know how to present themselves when asking for a job application so they can get that job interview and how to sit on furniture without plopping on it? In society good first impressions and manners really do go a long way. Consider enrolling your daughter, granddaughter, niece or friend in the Be-You-tiful Camp for Girls. Be-You-tiful Camp for Girls is more than an etiquette lesson on good table manners’ it’s the main course for helping your young person put her best foot forward now and into the future. They are skills she can rely on at every stage of her life. She will become a more focused student, have stronger confidence and relate better to others. Manners and learning to be polite are cool lifelong skills and can be learned in a relaxed environment at Be-You-tiful Camp for Girls.

Here’s what one parent had to say about Be-You-tiful Camp for Girls. “My daughter’s experience with Be-You-tiful Camp for Girls was 100% positive. She was somewhat shy, so being in an environment where she felt safe and nurtured was very important to both me and her dad. When she came home after the first day full of excitement about going back, I knew this was a great program for her. Even if your daughter is mannerable and well behaved, I still believe Be-You-tiful Camp will be beneficial for her.”

Space is limited and camp begins July 31. Camp fee includes materials, t-shirt, and afternoon snack. To register, visit our website at VisionsEtiquetteTraining.com or call 414-698-4187.

About Visions Etiquette Training and Image Consulting

Be-You-tiful Camp for Girls is a program of Visions Etiquette Training and Image Consulting. Visions Etiquette Training and Image Consulting was founded by Dana World-Patterson in 1990 to provide parents with a program geared to give their sons and daughters a leading edge in school, employment search, anger management and social interaction. More than 20,000 young people and adults have successfully completed training in the areas of visual poise, social graces and effective communications skills with Visions Etiquette Training and Image Consulting. For more information visit visionsetiquettetraining.com or follow us on Facebook, group Be Well Balanced with Dana World-Patterson.